Gayleen
A feminine name of uncertain origin possibly derived from "gay" meaning happy or joyful.
Name Census estimates that about 378 living Americans carry the first name Gayleen. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Gayleen today is around 67 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Gayleen births was 1955 (26 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Gayleen. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Gayleen is about 67 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Gayleens were born before 1969.
People living today
378
~ 1 in 906,758 Americans
Peak year
1955
26 babies that year
Average age
67
years old
1981 SSA rank
#10,932
Tracked since 1933
Census
Gayleen in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 505 people with the first name Gayleen, which placed it at #20,449 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#20,449
National first-name rank
People counted
505
505 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
83.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Gayleen
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Gayleen is White at 83.8%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (5.1%) and Hispanic (4.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Gayleen described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Gayleen at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White83.8% · 423
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.1% · 26
- Hispanic or Latino4.0% · 20
- Two or more races4.0% · 20
- Black or African American1.8% · 9
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 7
Popularity
Gayleen: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Gayleen from the 1930s through to the 1980s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 206 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Gayleen by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Gayleen during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Gayleens live
Origin
Meaning and history of Gayleen
The name Gayleen finds its origins in the English language, emerging in the late 19th century as a feminine form of the masculine name Galen. Galen itself is derived from the Greek word "galene," which means "calm" or "tranquil." This suggests that the name Gayleen carries connotations of serenity and peace.
The earliest recorded instance of the name Gayleen appears to be in the late 1800s, though its precise origin and the reason for its coinage remain unclear. It is possible that the name was created by combining the masculine name Galen with the common feminine suffix "-een," which was popular at the time for creating new feminine names.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Gayleen was Gayleen Woodward, an American actress born in 1923. She had a brief career in Hollywood during the 1940s and 1950s, appearing in a handful of films before retiring from acting.
Another notable Gayleen was Gayleen Aiken, an American writer and educator born in 1934. She authored several books on education and child development, and her work focused on promoting literacy and early childhood education.
In the realm of sports, Gayleen Wilkinson, an Australian athlete born in 1944, made her mark as a track and field competitor. She represented Australia in the 1964 and 1968 Olympic Games, specializing in the pentathlon and long jump events.
Moving into the music world, Gayleen Aiken, an American singer-songwriter born in 1946, rose to prominence in the 1970s with her folk-rock style. She released several albums during that decade and gained a dedicated following, particularly in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States.
Finally, Gayleen Froese, a Canadian artist and painter born in 1948, has achieved recognition for her vibrant and expressive works. Her paintings, often featuring bold colors and abstract forms, have been exhibited in galleries across Canada and internationally.
While the name Gayleen has not been among the most popular given names throughout history, these individuals and others have contributed to its legacy and helped to shape its cultural significance over time.
People
Gayleen + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Gayleen as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with G
Other first names starting with G with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Gayleen: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Gayleen?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 378 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Gayleen going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 906,758 US residents.
Is Gayleen a common name?
We classify Gayleen as "Very Rare". It ranks above 81.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 565 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Gayleen most popular?
The single biggest year for Gayleen was 1955, when 26 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Gayleen is about 67 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Gayleen in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 505 people with the name Gayleen, or 0.17 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #20,449 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Gayleen in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Gayleen?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Gayleen appears almost entirely female. Of the 495 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Gayleen?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Gayleen is White at 83.8%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (5.1%) and Hispanic (4.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Gayleen most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Gayleen in the 2020 Census, accounting for 83.8% (423 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Gayleen in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Gayleen a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Gayleen in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Gayleen still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Gayleen in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Gayleen can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people share the name Gayleen?
You can see how many people have the name Gayleen on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.